Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has reiterated that South Africa Rugby will rigorously enforce World Rugby Regulation 9 from 2020 in a bid to soften the impact of the growing flood of top players plying their trade abroad.

The veteran hooker has been eased into the side, after sustaining a calf injury, but he was superb in the Round 1 defeat of the Stormers and then was immense in the Bulls' 30-12 victory over the Lions at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.

Cornal Hendricks, a former Cheetahs and Springboks winger, retired in 2015, on medical advice, after he discovered that he had a heart defect. He will step out for the Bulls vs. the Lions in Pretoria on Saturday.

There is no June international window in Rugby World Cup year and the Rugby Championship has been cut to three fixtures per side, with the Boks to open their campaign against Australia at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on July 20.

SANZAAR issued another typically vague response to reports Super Rugby may revert to a 14-team competition from 2021. It's not such a bad situation, though, and one the governing body would be wise to embrace, Sam Bruce writes.